Woman sentenced for disposing of evidence after Novato murder

A woman who helped destroy evidence after the murder of a Novato man was sentenced Friday to the maximum possible term — and should be out of jail by next summer.

Anchulita Uribe, 37, was sentenced to three years in jail for being an accessory after the fact in the 2008 murder of Tong Van Le. She also received a 10-day sentence, to run concurrently, for illegally using her father's disability placard to get a better parking space during the trial.

Judge Terrence Boren described Uribe's conduct as "despicable" and "narcissistic," but could only impose a three-year sentence, minus more than 400 days of time served and other credits. With good behavior, she could be released by next July.

Boren noted that state law does not provide a wide range of penalty options for being an accessory to a felony, whether it is a commercial burglary or a "brutal execution murder."

"The Legislature ought to consider making the law different," the judge said.

Le's widow, Phan, said a three-year sentence "is nothing."

"I lost my husband, I lost everything," she said, addressing Uribe directly.

Uribe made no statement in court.

Le, who lived in the Hamilton neighborhood of Novato, was killed on Sept. 13, 2008, three weeks after being robbed at gunpoint at his liquor store in San Francisco. His store was near the Alemany public housing project, where the defendants lived or had social ties.

Le, 44, identified Larry Blay Jr. and a neighborhood juvenile as two of the robbers at his store. Authorities alleged that Blay, in phone calls from jail, ordered the execution of Le to prevent his testimony in the robbery case.

In May, a Marin County jury convicted Blay, 22, and three other men — Blay's brother Deandre, 20; Kevin Abram, 20; and C. Autis Johnson III, 20 — of murder, conspiracy and related counts. They face life sentences when they are sentenced Sept. 17.

The prosecution's key witness, Sean Demetrius Washington, took a plea deal and testified that he, Abram, Johnson and Deandre Blay followed Le home from work and ambushed him in his driveway. Washington, who received a manslaughter conviction in exchange for his testimony, said he drove the others and Abram fired the gun that killed Le.

Uribe, who is C. Autis Johnson's mother, was convicted of being an accessory after the fact for driving several suspects back to Marin and disposing of the murder weapon and other evidence.

On Friday, defense attorney Robert Casper asked the judge to consider granting Uribe probation. Casper said she is a single mother whose instinct was to help her son out of trouble.